Wrapper for an ice chest

ABSTRACT

An expandable wrapper for an ice chest includes fastening elements at opposed ends for overlapping and securing the ends to one another. The wrapper is of expandable material and in combination with the fastening means will accommodate ice chests having a large range of girth dimensions. Preferably, the material is receptive to printing of words, logos and designs to suit a user&#39;s preferences and to personalize the wrapped ice chest. In a variant, the wrapper may be a sleeve slidable mounted on the ice chest and of expandable/elastic material to accommodate the difference in girth between the bottom and the upper end of the ice chest as well as to accommodate ice chests of different sizes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to wrappers for objects and, moreparticularly, to an expandable wrapper for encircling ice chests ofvarious sizes.

2. Description of Related Prior Art

Presently commercially available ice chests are essentially rectangularin plan form and have a hingedly attached lid. These ice chests aregenerally of plastic material and formed in molds. To permit withdrawalof an article formed in a mold, the mold must have a draw to ensure thatthe bottom of the mold is lesser sized than the opening to the mold.This results in ice chests having inwardly downwardly sloping sides.

Generally, the sides of conventional ice chests do not include graphicmaterial which may be offensive, objectionable or contrary to thepersonal attitudes of a user. At most, one may find a trademark of themanufacturer formed in a side of the ice chest or on a label appended toa side of the ice chest.

Many users of ice chests have an affiliation with or support of anorganization, sports team, activity, etc. To indicate such affiliation,some users append decals of the appropriate type onto the sides of anice chest. However, such decals are often damaged or defaced throughnormal use of the ice chest.

Ice chests inherently have thermally non-conductive sides byincorporating a double wall construction with air space therebetween.The degree of thermal isolation of the contents of the ice chest fromthe temperature of the ambient atmosphere is a function of the thicknessof the air space. Accordingly, the thermal insulating capability of icechests may vary significantly between manufacturers or even betweenrelated products by the same manufacturer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An elastic or expandable wrapper, preferably of thermally non-conductivematerial, extends about the sides of a conventional ice chest. Theopposed ends of the wrapper include fastening means for securing theends to one another and attain a tight fit of the wrapper about the icechest. The elastic nature of the wrapper accommodates differences ingirth of the ice chest from the upper dimension to the lower dimension.The material forming the wrapper is preferably printable to permit auser to illustrate his/her affiliation and support of a particularorganization, sports team, etc. To permit essentially unlimitedadjustment of the wrapper, hook and loop fastening means may be disposedat the opposed ends. In a variant, the wrapper is in the nature of asleeve of elastic or expandable material. Such elasticity permits use ofthe variant on different sized ice chests.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide awrapper for ice chests which will accommodate differences in girth ofvarious ice chests.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wrapper for icechests which will accommodate differences in girth of the ice chest fromtop to bottom.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an easilymountable and dismountable wrapper for an ice chest.

Yet another objects of the present invention is to provide hook and loopfastenings to secure a wrapper about an ice chest.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wrapper forice chests having overlapping ends to accommodate different sized icechests.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide aprintable wrapper for ice chests.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a wrapperfor ice chests which contribute to the thermal barrier of an ice chest.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a method forselectively thermally insulating an ice chest.

A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a method fordepicting a user's affiliation with an organization while enhancing thethermal properties of an ice chest.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art as the description now proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be described with greater specificity andclarity with respect to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an ice chest with a wrapper;

FIG. 2 illustrates a one-piece wrapper for mounting about an ice chest;

FIG. 2A illustrates a variant configuration of the ends of the wrapperto accommodate the handles of a wrapped ice chest;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the one-piece wrapper illustrating its expansioncapability;

FIG. 4 illustrates a variant wrapper mounted about an ice chest; and

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a one-piece wrapper having overlapping endsto accommodate ice chests of various girths.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a conventional ice chest 10having a generally rectangular body 12 and a hingedly attached lid 14.Handles 16 may be disposed on opposed ends of the ice chest for carryingpurposes. Usually, these handles are pivotally attached to reduce thespace required for storage purposes and to protect the handles againstdamage.

Referring jointly to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a wrapper 20 is mountable uponice chest 10 by drawing the wrapper thereabout from the bottom of theice chest to essentially the junction between body 12 and lid 10. Thewrapper may include apertures 22, 24 to permit extension of handles 16therethrough. Body 12 of ice chest 10 tapers downwardly such that theupper perimeter of the body is greater than the lower perimeter of thebody. To accommodate this difference in girth, wrapper 20 is ofexpandable or elastic material to ensure that it will remain tightlyagainst the sides of body 12 after being mounted thereon. Thisexpandable or elastic capability is illustrated in FIG. 3 by dashed line26 showing extension along side 28 and end 30 of wrapper 20. Dependingupon the degree of expansion capability of the wrapper, various sizes ofice chest 10 will snugly support a wrapper constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

While apertures 22, 24 in wrapper 20 are illustrated in FIG. 2, it is tobe understood that the corresponding edge of the wrapper may slopedownwardly below the handles, as depicted in FIG. 2A. As shown in FIG.2A, edge 32 of wrapper 20 may slope downwardly to define an edge 34 thatwould be below the corresponding handle of the ice chest.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is illustrated an ice chest 38, which may belike ice chest 10 shown in FIG. 1, having a body 40 and a hingedlyattached lid 42. A variant wrapper 44 is mounted about body 40. Thewrapper is essentially a rectangular strip 46 of expandable/elasticmaterial. To maintain the strip about cooler 38, opposed ends 48, 50overlap one another to the extend necessary to snugly wrap the wrapperabout the ice chest. To maintain the ends secured to one another, theends may include hook and loop fasteners, such as the type sold underthe trademark Velcro. That is, a section of loops 52 may be attached toend 48 and a section 54 of hooks may be attached to end 50. One of thebenefits of the hook and loop fastener is that infiniteadjustability/positioning therebetween is possible. Thereby, variantwrapper 44 may be drawn as tightly about ice chest 38 as a user maydesire. Such adjustability also permits the use of variant wrapper 44 ondifferent sized ice chests as the differences in girth can readily beaccommodated by the hook and loop fastener disposed at the overlappingends and the elasticity/expandability of the wrapper. As discussedabove, the girth of ice chest 38 at the bottom is generally less thanthe girth of the ice chest adjacent lid 42. Such difference in girth isreadily accommodated by variant wrapper 44 due to the use of a hoop andloop fastener and the elasticity of the wrapper.

As further illustrated in FIG. 5A, the variant wrapper may be overlappedat the end of ice chest 38 (see also FIG. 4). Alternatively, the ends ofthe variant wrapper may be overlapped along a side of the ice chest, asillustrated in FIG. 5B. To accommodate the handles that normally extendfrom opposed sides of the ice chest, slots 60, 62 may be formed in ends48, 50 of the variant wrapper. Alternatively, the edges of the variantwrapper generally corresponding with the handles of the ice chest may beindented, as illustrated in FIG. 2A.

There is presently available expandable/elastic material sold under thetrademark Neoprene which also has thermal insulating properties. Whenthis material is used these properties add to the thermal insulation ofthe side walls of the ice chest. Thereby, the contents of the ice chestwill be less affected by the ambient temperature of the air surroundingthe ice chest. Furthermore, this material is receptive to and willretain printing thereon. Thereby, a user may select a wrapper 20 or avariant wrapper 44 which depicts a sports team, such as the AtlantaFalcons depicted in FIG. 1 or the Arizona Cardinals as depicted in FIG.4. Other affiliations, such as colleges, universities, fraternities,sororities, and numerous other organizations may be identified onwrapper 20 and on variant wrapper 44.

1. A wrapper for an ice chest having handles on opposed ends, saidwrapper comprising in combination: a) a strip of expandable material,said strip including opposed ends; b) a hook fastener section disposedon one end of said strip and a loop fastener section disposed on theother end of said strip for selective engagement with one another tomount said wrapper about the ice chest; and c) said strip includingmeans for accommodating manual access to the pair of handles.
 2. Thewrapper as set forth in claim 1 wherein said accommodating meansincludes an aperture formed in said strip for each handle to permitprotection of the handle through the respective one of said apertures.3. The wrapper as set forth in claim 1 wherein said accommodating meansincludes a downwardly extending edge of said strip adjacent each handleto prevent interference with the handle during normal use of the pair ofhandles.
 4. The wrapper as set forth in claim 1 wherein said strip is ofprintable material to permit application of indicia to said wrapper. 5.The wrapper as set forth in claim 1 wherein said strip is formed ofthermal insulating material.
 6. The wrapper as set forth in claim 5wherein said strip is of printable material to permit application ofindicia to said wrapper.
 7. The wrapper as set forth in claim 5 whereinsaid accommodating means includes an aperture formed in said strip foreach handle to permit penetration of the handle through the respectiveone of said apertures.
 8. The wrapper as set forth in claim 5 whereinsaid accommodating means includes a downwardly extending edge of saidstrip adjacent each handle to prevent interference with the handleduring normal use of the pair of handles.
 9. A wrapper for an ice chesthaving handles at opposed ends, said wrapper comprising in combination:a) a sleeve of expandable material for accommodating engagement with icechests of different sizes; and b) means for avoiding interferencebetween said sleeve with the pair of handles.
 10. The wrapper as setforth in claim 9 wherein said avoiding means comprises depressions alongthe edge of said sleeve.
 11. The wrapper as set forth in claim 9 whereinsaid avoiding means comprises apertures in said sleeve.
 12. The wrapperas set forth in claim 9 wherein said wrapper is formed of thermalinsulating material.
 13. The wrapper as set forth in claim 9 whereinsaid wrapper is of printable material to permit application of indiciato said wrapper.
 14. The wrapper as set forth in claim 9 wherein saidaccommodating means includes a downwardly extending edge of said sleeveadjacent with each handle to prevent interference with the handle duringnormal use of the pair of handles.
 15. The wrapper as set forth in claim9 wherein said accommodating means includes an aperture formed in saidsleeve for each handle to permit penetration of the handle through therespective one of said apertures.